Halloween Safety Myths

For good reason, Halloween strikes fear into the hearts of parents everywhere. Not only is there the threat of ghosts and ghouls, but it’s the one night of the year when we send our children out to wander the streets of our cities and towns to beg candy from complete strangers. Which is, pretty much, the exact opposite of what we try and teach them the other 364 days of the year.

Halloween also has a reputation for being a night, more than others, when children are preyed upon by twisted individuals who what to poison their candy and kidnap them. It’s easy to see how these fears have arisen. Given the creepiness of the holiday along with the anonymity of costumed adults, walks in the dark, and bags full of candy from strangers, it’s not surprising that parents have put barriers in place to prevent crime against their children on this night.

However, two specific fears have been allowed to fester in the minds of concerned parents for years, but have no actual basis in reality. In order to truly keep your children safe on Halloween, its best to dispel the myths and deal with the real threats of the holiday.

Poison Candy

For years, news media and community groups have counseled parents to vigorously inspect their children’s candy for razor blades, pins, or poison. (As well, shortly after 9/11 parents were told to inspect candy for Anthrax.) But you will be hard pressed to find a single case of Halloween candy poisoning, let alone candy laced with razor blades or pins. In fact, there has never been a recorded case of mass Halloween candy poisoning.

There was a case in 1974, where a father slipped a cyanide-laced Pixie stick into his son’s trick-or-treating bag. The son died, but the father was found guilty of murder and executed for his crime. So, according to precedent, Halloween candy from strangers is statistically safer than candy from family and friends. (For more on this myth, click here.)

Child Molesters

In general, most people are afraid of sex offenders and for good reason. Sex offender residency laws are popular precisely because no one wants to associate with a known rapist or raise their children next door to a child molester. However, there is a sense that child molesters pose a greater threat on Halloween than on any other day of the year. Maybe it’s the hordes of children knocking on neighborhood doors that gets us thinking about sex offenders in the area, but in reality sex crimes against children have never increased on Halloween. Actually, sex crimes against children are traditionally higher during summer months, and tend to decrease as the weather gets cooler.

Real Threats

By no means is Halloween the safest holiday of the year or the most crime free. Children are still at risk for getting lost or injuring themselves while walking around a dark neighborhood in a cumbersome costume. Make sure that your children are accompanied by an adult at all times—preferably with a flashlight. Also, make sure your children know basic traffic safety rules. Besides preventing them from eating too much candy, the best thing you can do for your children on Halloween is to be with them and make sure they have fun.

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